02/05/2026

SATURDAY | MAY 2, 2026

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29 killed due to truce violations ISTANBUL: At least 29 people, including four members of a family, were killed and at least 27 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on several towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday despite a temporary ceasefire, Anadolu Ajansi reported, citing health authorities and local media. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said four people were killed and nine injured in a strike in the town of Jibchit, where a residential building was destroyed. In the town of Toul, four people were killed and 11 others wounded, with another residential building destroyed. Two more were killed in the town of Harouf, where a house was hit by an Israeli aircraft, the agency said. The Health Ministry confirmed the fatalities, saying five women and two children were killed in the three attacks while 23 others were injured, including seven women and six children. Another Israeli attack on Jibchit killed a family of four after their home was hit and destroyed. In a separate strike in Toul, one person was killed, two others were injured, including a girl, in the bombing of a residential house. Israeli fighter jets bombed the town of Zebdine, leaving at least six people dead, NNA said. The news agency also said another Israeli strike on the town of Shaabiyeh in the Tyre district killed two people and wounded one. Two more people were killed and one injured in an Israeli airstrike on Qana in Tyre. A father and his daughter were also killed in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Alhenniya. The Lebanese army said a soldier and family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the town of Kfarreman in Nabatieh. A tally by Anadolu showed that the Israeli army carried out 73 airstrikes and artillery shelling in Lebanon on Thursday. Israeli warplanes also carried out a strike on the town of Sultaniyeh while artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Mifadoun. – Bernama-Anadolu Palestine faces high unemployment RAMALLAH: The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions said on Thursday around 550,000 workers in Palestine are unemployed, with joblessness reaching unprecedented levels across the West Bank and Gaza, Palestine News and Info Agency reported. In a statement, the union reported that unemployment rates have risen to 85% in the Gaza Strip and 38% in the West Bank, reflecting a severe crisis impacting livelihoods and undermining basic living conditions. It added that since Oct 7, 2023, more than 250,000 workers have been prevented from reaching their jobs inside Israel, leaving them without income for over 30 months. This has led many to exhaust their savings and sell personal belongings to meet essential family needs. The union said violations against workers have extended beyond denial of employment to include killings, detentions and abuse. It reported that around 50 workers have been killed and more than 38,000 detained since that date, describing these actions as systematic practices that violate human and labour rights. It held the Israeli government fully responsible for the situation, calling for compliance with international law, compensation for workers’ losses, payment of dues and wages, and their immediate return to workplaces. The statement also added that international trade unions have filed formal complaints with the International Labour Organisation, but Israel has yet to respond. – Bernama-Wafa

Iran activates air defences

TEHRAN: Air defences in Tehran were activated to counter small aircraft and drones on Thursday, as the White House signalled that it would not be reined in by a congressional deadline on the Iran war. The Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that air defence systems were activated “to counter small aircraft and reconnaissance drones” for around 20 minutes but the situation has returned to “normal”. US President Donald Trump’s administration faced a looming midnight deadline to secure congressional authorisation for the war against Iran, setting up a clash between the White House and Congress. The Trump administration argued that the 60-day clock to seek authorisation was effectively paused by a ceasefire announced last month. “For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Feb 28 have terminated,” a senior administration official said on Thursday, adding that there has been no exchange of fire between the United States and Iran since the April 7 ceasefire. Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s supreme leader declared that the United States has suffered a shameful defeat, rejecting a warning from Trump that an economically punishing US o New chapter unfolding for Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz: Supreme leader

failing to support US-Israeli operations against Iran, including in the Strait. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz meanwhile said it is “possible we may soon have to act again” against Iran to achieve the war’s objectives. But Iranian Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi said even a “short and tactical” enemy operation would be met “with painful, prolonged and extensive strikes”. Trump has reportedly told oil executives and national security officials this week to prepare for a prolonged US blockade designed to force Tehran to surrender its nuclear programme. US Central Command said on Wednesday it had redirected 44 commercial vessels to violate the blockade as part of its blockade of Iran. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the blockade of his country’s ports is effectively an “extension of military operations” by Washington, despite the ongoing ceasefire. “Continuation of this oppressive approach is intolerable.” United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the closure of Hormuz is “strangling the global economy”. International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said: “The world is facing the biggest energy crisis in history.” “The consequences of the Middle East crisis grow dramatically worse with each passing hour. Now is the time for dialogue, for solutions that pull us back from the brink,” added Guterres yesterday. – AFP

naval blockade could be enforced for months to come. Oil prices hit a four-year high, then fell back slightly before Mojtaba Khamenei issued a written statement read on state television declaring that Iran is now in the driver’s seat in the crisis. “Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world’s bullies in the region, and the United States’ disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, hailing Iran’s control over shipping in the strait. He went on to predict a bright future for the Gulf without the United States, saying those who interfere in the region from afar “have no place there except at the bottom of its waters”. Mojtaba was wounded in the initial US-Israeli strikes that killed his father Ali Khamenei and has not been seen in public since being named supreme leader in March. The United States imposed a blockade on Iran’s ports two weeks ago while the Islamic republic has maintained its stranglehold over the strategic Strait of Hormuz since the start of the Middle East war at the end of February. Washington is now seeking to assemble an international coalition of allied states and shipping firms to coordinate safe passage through Hormuz while maintaining its blockade of ships serving Iran, a State Department official said. Trump threatened on Thursday to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain, extending similar warnings made against Germany, after lambasting the Nato allies for

Activists preparing to board a bus at the port of Atherinolakkos on the island of Crete in Greece yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Flotilla activists disembarked on Greek coast JERUSALEM: Dozens of activists on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Crete, disembarked yesterday in the Greek island, as sighted by an AFP journalist. boats on Thursday. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed that Israel had blocked attempts to break its naval blockade on Gaza and prevented the vessels from reaching the enclave, alleging that all participants removed from the boats “were taken off unharmed” and had been transferred to an Israeli vessel ahead of their return.

carried 345 participants from 39 countries. On Thursday, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza said Israel had “kidnapped and unlawfully detained” the activists. The committee held Greece “directly responsible”given that the raid occurred within its maritime scope, and called on Athens to “act immediately to ensure the safety of the vessels and prevent further attacks”. There has been no immediate comment from Greek authorities on whether the Israeli raid, carried out in international waters near Greek territorial limits, was conducted with Athens’ knowledge. – Bernama-Anadolu

Escorted by Greek coastguards, around 175 activists, the majority of them nationals of European countries, were taken in four coaches to the port of Atherinolakkos, in the southeast of the island. As they approached the port, the activists chanted “Free Palestine,“ reported the AFP journalist. Israel’s Foreign Ministry earlier said around 175 activists had been taken off more than 20

The flotilla, part of the Spring mission of the Global Sumud Flotilla, had departed from Sicily in Italy on Sunday, carrying humanitarian aid aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza. According to flotilla officials, the vessels